The Neural Cost of the Auditory Perception of Language Switches: An Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study in Bilinguals

Direct comparisons between languages (L1 and L2) and types of switches (regular and irregular). Regular switches into the less-exposed language (L1) compared with those into L2 (top, left) activated a network of brain areas associated with cognitive control (for details, see text). This pattern was found also for irregular switches into the less-exposed language (L1) compared with those into L2 (bottom, left). The reverse comparisons, i.e., regular switches into L2 compared with those into L1 (top, right) and irregular switches into L2 compared with those into L1 (bottom, right), did not engage this network of brain areas.